Melody of Time
by KellyTarzuoty
Summary: My name is Harmony Kakureta Merodi, and to say it simply; my life is screwed up. Just a couple of days ago I was on my way to fight in the war with my teammates/friends, but today, I'm some how a genin again, with a different squad. Also, my childhood friend is now 13 years older than me now! Fate must hate me or really love messing with my mind. God help me.
1. Prolouge

**_I don't own Naruto._**

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><p>Prologue<p>

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><p>Where should I start?<p>

The beginning? Well, in the beginning starts with a fire-red haired girl crying in a puddle of her older brother's and grandfathers blood.

The beginning starts with her learning that because of the blood that ran through her veins, the same one that was spilling out of the two corpses, and mostly likely her parents as well in some distant land, had made her a target.

The beginning starts with bloody nightmare-filled and sleepless nights, staring up at the moon and stars, trying to draw enough strength from them to get up the next day.

The beginning starts with her trying to grow up alone, trying to get stronger with only one person on her side.

How about the middle? The middle is about that same girl, now growing up learning to trust people, and learning that family can be by blood and bonds.

The middle is about her learning how to not only to protect herself, but the people who she cares deeply for.

The middle is about her learning what a one sided love is about and about ignored jealousy.

The middle is about her learning the cruelties of war.

The middle is about her figuring out that a childish rivalry within a team could almost ruin everything.

Now, the ending? The ending is about her seeing the people she loved and cared about try to run to her before she gets crushed under a tonne of rocks after she gets nearly rescued.

Now, what would you say if that was only part of my story. That I had a whole nothing beginning, middle, and end? And that it was soon going to start off?

My name is Harmony Kakureta Merodi. The small girl who had to grow up with her most precious things being stolen from her, only to regain it in a different form in a cruel and blood filled world that came with being a skill shinobi.

This is my story.

Would you like to hear what happens next?


	2. Chapter 1

**_I don't own Naruto._**

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><p><em>May 21st<em>

_Well, it's official. As of today Kakashi Hatake will be a jounin, leading squads in missions, just like Minato-sensei. I would say that I am surprised that he advanced so quickly, but I'm not really. He's always been good at everything, even if he can be such a bastard at times._

_ … Okay, maybe that was a little uncalled for. It's just that the fact that my Little Fang is now my superior bugs me a little… Okay, it bugs me a lot. But in all honesty, he deserves to be a jounin. He earned it. I'll just have to train extra hard to catch up to him._

_ On a lighter note, my thirteenth birthday is coming up! I'll finally be the same age as Kakashi and Obito! No longer will they be able to pull the 'You're younger than us, so we have to protect you,' thing. It annoys the crap out of me, especially when half of the time it's me and Rin saving their poor asses from getting killed._

_ Speaking of a certain Uchiha, looks like he's going to be late again. I think for his next birthday I think I'm going to get an extra loud, extra annoying, alarm clock._

_ I've also had this really nagging feeling in my chest for the past little bit. Actually, it's been longer than a little bit. I've had this feeling for over a year I think. I didn't want to write anything about it until I was sure, and I'm still not. All I know that it grows till it almost burns inside me when Kakashi is alone, or when he smiles… Or when I see some girl gives him a present, her face flushed. The latter is when it hurts the most especially after he accepts the 'presents'. I really hope I'm not fallin-_

"Harmony, you're writing in that old journal again? I wouldn't be surprised if it fell apart one day," I snapped my journal in fright when I heard Rin talk. I looked over my shoulder and through my fire red hair that was covering my left eye and saw her leaning over me, trying to get a glance at what I was writing.

"Hey! What's with closing it all of a sudden? Writing something you don't want anyone else to see?" She asked with a good natured smile as she straightened up, holding a hand out to help me up. I scowled at her playfully before I grabbed her hand, letting her pull me up.

"Like I would ever tell you Rin. That's the point of journals. They are meant to keep the writers secrets a secret," I told her, punching her lightly in the arm. "Besides, you're the person that got me to start writing in this thing again. I think your exact word where 'It'll be a way to let out all the emotions that you keep bottled up in yourself.'."

Rin gave a small giggle when I said that," Ya, but I didn't mean get lost in your own little word every time you write in it. We both know how complex your mind is, and how easy it is for you to get lost in it."

"What will we do if you get lost in your maze during a mission? Not only would it jeopardize the mission, but everyone on the squad if you're not paying attention to what's going on?" A young, cold emotionless voice asked, making both Rin and I turn around to face the owner of the voice. I smirked when Rin stuck her tongue out at him, even if the feeling in my chest got warm again. I quickly brushed it off as nothing before walking over to the boy; swing my arm over his shoulders.

"Oh lighten up, Little Fang," I told him as I placed my arm on his shoulder, just to get a reaction out of him. Which he did, a cold dark glare, which I responded with a cheeky smile before I swatted the back of his gravity defying grey hair with my hand, making me having to quickly duck, barely avoiding a well-timed punch from him.

"Harmony, don't instigate a fight with Kakashi," Minato said as he watched us, me crouched on the ground and Kakashi following his punch with a low kick, trying to knock me down. I leapt up and used Kakashi's shoulders as a catapult as I flipped over him, landing on the other side.

"Fiiiine," I dragged out when I landed, stepping away from Kakashi when he turned around slowly, no longer trying to hit me while I flipped my waist long hair over my shoulder so it hung down my back and my side bangs so they didn't cover my face as much.

"By the way Sensei. Where's Obito? I thought he would have been here by now?" I heard Rin ask Minato-sensei.

"Rin, you should really know by now that Obito will always be late. And he should be here in 3... 2…1." I counted down, timing it almost perfectly with the happy-go-lucky Uchiha who just crashed harshly onto the ground, right by Kakashi's feet, covered in dirt and god knows what else.

"Did I just make it in time?" Obito asked, trying to make it seem like he wasn't panting

"Nope, because you're late! Obito!" Kakashi said with a disappointing look and his arms crossed. Though you could only really tell that he was disappointed by his voice and eyes, seeing as the bottom half of his face was covered with a dark blue mask. "You idiot! What time did you thing we were meeting?! If you're a fully-fledged shinobi, you should naturally follow the rules and regulations strictly!" Kakashi chastised Obito as Obito slowly got up.

"No… On the way, I had to show the way to an old woman carrying luggage… Plus, there was something in my eye…"

"What? That's a lie!" Kakashi yelled.

"Hey! Don't talk like that, Kakashi!" Obito yelled back, now sitting cross legged on the ground.

"Oh stop lying Obito. I love you and all, and you're a great friend, but we all know that's is not why your la-"

"Don't say that Harmony," Minato-sensei cut me off in a gentle tone," you went with the old lady, didn't you Obito?"

"I carried her luggage too!" Obito exclaimed as he rummaged through his bag, pulling out a small container, and took his large orange goggles off, squishing the liquid through the eye dropper attached onto his 'irritated eyes'.

"... You're a real pushover. You should be getting angry at Obito. Every single time. Those ninjas who don't follow the rules and regulations are called trash! That's how it is." Kakashi now chastise Minato-sensei.

"...Hahaha" Minato-sensei laughed unsurely, a small bead of sweat running down the side of his face. I had to stop myself from hitting Kakashi in the back of the head again, only this time, a little harder.

"Have you no kindness in you?! It's always about the rules! The regulations! Just shut up!" Obito said as he rubbed his eyes. "The key point is your own self-control."

"Hey, hey. Don't you two ever stop? You're in the same team, aren't you?" Rin said, trying calm down the two boys. I just sighed a shock my head in defeat._ 'There's no way to stop them, they're like fire and ice, total opposites that can never see eye-to-eye.'_

"Rin, you're too easy-going towards Obito… This is a very important day for me"

"Yeah… Yeah, it is…" Rin said, now not sure what to say.

"What was it again?" Obito asked, making me question his brain functioning again.

"Let's get going. If we want to reach our destination we have to leave now," Kakashi said as he turned around and began to walk, Minato-sensei and Rin diligently following.

"Geez Obito. Did you knock out a few brain cells when you hit the ground?" I asked him with a small laugh as I walked towards him and held out a hand, just like how Rin had done for me. Obito gave me a wide smile as he grabbed my hand, understanding my joke.

"Nope! Though I wonder if you have any let, seeing as you hang out with Mr. Rules-come-first." I smirked and pulled him up.

"Har-har. Very funny Mr. I-can't-be-on-time-to-save-my-life. Now let's go before we fall too far behind." Obito nodded and began to jog lightly, seeing as they three had gotten so far ahead. I jogged alongside him, my hair swishing back and forth behind me.

"Hey Harmony. Why do you hang out with Kakashi? All he does is glare and scold," Obito questioned as we jogged. I gave a small smile, feeling my cheeks heat up slightly, but I fought it and pushed the heat down.

"That's not all he does. I've known him ever since we were kids, so why wouldn't I hang out with him? He just really likes to scold you." Obito grumbled a bit under his breath after I said this, making me laugh.

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><p>"Well… Today is Kakashi inaugurated as a jounin, just like me. To make missions efficient, myself and his team will be split, since the military power of Konoha has hit an all-time low." Minato-sensei explained as the five of us walked through the countryside.<p>

"Split. Then..." Obito said confused, walking behind our sensei.

"Yeah! That's right. Kakashi will become the captain of your four-man squad. And I'll be on my own."

"I told you about it before Obito, to get Kakashi a present." Rin said as she walked beside me, both of us in front of Minato-sensei and Kakashi a little ahead of us. I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on, because the air around us was so calm and soothing that I couldn't help but pull out my emerald green flute that my mother had given to me as a child and play a soft tone. It was supposedly a clan heirloom, and had once been played by one of the funders of my clan. After I had stopped playing, deep in thought about my clan I ran a finger over one end on the flute, closer to the mouthpiece, where a single crescent moon with three lines running through it and two stars connecting to the lines carved into it. The symbol of my clan.

_'And now they are all dead… Just because _they_ still feared the 'illness' that is in my blood.'_ Sardonic thoughts ran through my mind as we walked, making me want to just close my eyes and forget all that was around me.


	3. Chapter 2

_**I don't own Naruto.**_

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><p>I felt a hand be placed onto one of my shouldners, making me jump and efficantly snapping my out of my depressing thoughts. I turned and saw that it was Rin that had placed her hand, her face full of worry, but she was trying to cover it with a small smile.<p>

"You okay Harmony? You looked like you were lost in that maze of yours again," She said as she kept her hand in contact. I nodded my head and gave her a closed eye smile.

"Yeah, sorry. I guess I really got to get a handle on that, don't I?" I told her, and it must have been enough to reasure her, because she removed her hand, nodding her head as well.

"Like I said, it could endanger the mission if you keep on doing that Harmony," Kakashi said from besides. I hadn't notice that he had walked up to us. He was holding one of Minato-senseis specail sealed kunias and a small medical pack in one hand, the other extened to wards me. I blinked at it for a few times, confused as to why.

"Ummmmm… Do you want a high-five or something..?" I asked him slowly, only to recvie a very blank look.

"Ahaha, geez Harmony. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours sometimes if you can forget such an important thing." Minato-sensei laughed, making my face flush slightly from embrassement. I looked back at Kakashi and the things he was holding, putting two and two together.

_ 'Right! His present!'_ I gave a nervous laugh as I took off my pack and dug in the side pocket, taking out a simple black threaded necklace with what looked like a slightly aged wolf fang hanging in the middle.

"Here you go Fang," I said, handing it to him, "the pendant on the neckalce has some charka in it, so if you're in a bind, you can use what's stored in here. It's not a lot, but it should be enough to help you escape or to stop you from passing out."

"Thank you very much Harmony," Kakashi said, taking to necklace, putting it on, and hiding it underneight his clothes. Lastly, he turned to Obito, hand outstretched just like he did to me.

"Wha.. What's with the hand?!" Obito yelled at him, "I didn't do anything for you! Absolutely nothing!"

"That's fine… Make yourself useful… Carry my stuff for me." Kakashi told him in a bored tone. I bit my lips to help contain my laughter when I saw Obito's left eye twich, his tell-tale sign before he explodes.

"IT'S A MYSTERY HOW YOU EVER BECAME A JOUNIN!"

"I don't want to talk to you about it." Kakshi replied, brushing him off. I watched as Obito was visibly_ shaking_ now.

_ 'Maybe I should try calming him down… Don't want to have someone get murdered now.' _I thought to myself as I took a step towards Obito, a hand up in a 'calm down' way.

"Okay Obito. I know Kakashi is a huge ass, but I think you need to take a deep brea-"

"I AM OBITO UCHIHA OF THE UCHIHA CLAN! AND I WILL SURPASS YOU! AS SOON AS I AWAKEN THIS SHARINGAN!"

_ 'And I think he just took a dive into the deep end… Well, it's never a dull day here on this squad, now is it?'_ I said to myself with a sigh. _'And here's why….'_

"The Uchiha clan are all elite shinobis, aren't they..?" Kakashi questioned, "that's what I thought, but I guess they expected too much from you when entrusting you with a title like that."

"Whaaat?!" Obito growled at him, holding up a fist, looking ready to fight as I introduced my palm to my face. _'And there it is… Now, cue Rin, the peacemaker here.'_

"You guys, quit it!" Rin scowled as he walked in between the two. I lifted my head from my hand and sent Kakashi a disapproving look.

"And I think that's more directed at you, dumb dog. You didn't need to go that far and be that hard on him and his clan. They are the top enforcers of our village, so you shouldn't be taking them too lightly," I then turned to Obito, who paled," and you Obito need to stop complaining. It's your own fault that you forgot to even remember what today was, so carrying luggage isn't that bad, and you're the one that made this into an argument anyhow."

"HYPOCRITE! You forgot too Harmony!" Obito yelled, pointing a finger at him, which I lightly pushed aside.

"I momentarily forgot. Not entirely. I still had something prepared."

"Heeey… Can I explain the mission now? We're almost at the country border," Minato-sensei interrupted, gathering all of our attentions. The four of us looked at each other before looking back at him, all slowly nodding our heads.

"Okay then, then lets get going," He said as he began to walk again, the rest of us in tow.

"Still think you're a hypocrite, Harmony-chan," Obito teased under his breath as we walked side by side. I elbowed in the the stomach for placing the -chan to the end of my name before grabbing a hair elastic from the wrist.

"Shut it pink eyes," I whispered back as I tied my long hair back into a ponytail, leaving only some of my sidebangs loose to hang freely.

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><p>"Alright? it's this line." Minato pointed to a certain line on the map he had sped out on a large flat rock by the border. "Currently the Earth Country is invading the Kusagakure*. That's this line. Of course the enemy are Iwa-Shinobis*... We have information that there's already about a thousand shinobis at the enemy's front line. If they continue advancing like this…"<p>

"They're advancing a lot faster than before…" I muttered out-loud, surveying the map in front of us.

"Although the Fire country also borders the Kusagakure, if we wait too long, it's be too late," Kakashi pointed out after Minato-sensei had stopped thinking out loud.

"Looking at this advance… Their rear support should be smooth too, shouldn't it?" Rin questioned, absorbing all the information we were receiving. Minato-sensei nodded before pointing to a certain point on the map, near to the line he had pointed to before.

"Our current miss is here, Kannabi Bridge. We'd need a lot of shinobis to hit the enemy's front line. Because of that. a few selected shinobi must go and sabotage them."

"The bridge… So this is a stealth mission?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes! Team Kakashi, you mission is to sneak in behind the enemy and destroy that bridge that they need to receive supplies. Then withdraw quickly."

"OKAY!" We all replied in sync.

"What about you Sensei?" Obito asked.

"I will engage the frontline directly. To divert them away from you," He told us, before holding a hand out to us. "Right, this is Kakashi's first time as captain. We'll go together to the border, but from the on, the missoin begins!"

"OKAY!" We all replied in sync again, each placing a hand on top of Minato-sensei's hand

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><p><em> 'I don't think I'll ever get use to this forest. There's just somethings about walking next to giant mushrooms growling out even larger trees that just freaks me out. Maybe because it's seems so unnatural but no one questions it. Hell, I don't really even question it, just find it creepy...But then again, fighting against a guy who can easily swing a sword that's nearly twice his height with ease is pretty creepy too. Thank god I survived that one though, but one thing is for sure, I definitely don't want to go up against him ever aga- What the?!'<em> I exclaimed in my mind when I nearly ran into Rin's back because she had stopped suddenly to avoid from running into Kakashi, who was in the lead. I sent the back of his head a _WTF_ look for stooping without a warning until I noticed how tense he was now, that and he had an hand slightly out as a warning, which I hadn't noticed because of my mind-rambling.

_ 'I really got to get a handle on that...'_ I thought to myself before I took a breath and closed my eyes, concentrating my chakra and to calm myself down, now aware of what he had sensed. I opened one eye and cock my head to the side, listening carefully. _'He's alone…. For now. Any moment he could call for backup… Wait, no, there's more now!'_ I realised as I slowly crouched down behind one of the giant trees roots with the rest of my squad.

"Tsk… There's a lot here, nearly surrounding us. Can't pinpoint how many though...' I whispered to them.

"There's around twenty Harmony. Possibly shadow clones…" Minato-sensei said from besides Kakashi. I nodded my head, both eyes closed again.

_ 'That would make sense. Just a few seconds before he was making only enough sound to be from one person, but the amount of noise suddenly spiked. Damn, sometimes that jutsu is a real pain in the ass, it's going to be real hard finding the real among the fakes.'_

"It looks like it… Sensei, I'll head in, Please cover me," I opened both eyes and looked at him in surprise, was he an _idiot?_

"Don't be hasty. Kakashi, you should be the backup." Minato-sensei explained to him, but the Kakshi I knew was too stubborn to let something like this down.

"Sensei, I'm the captain today, right?! This is an excellent time to try out my new jutsu!" A burst of cracking blue light materialized in his right hand, giving off the sound of chirping and crying birds. _'That must be the 'thing' Fang has been working on for the longest time and wouldn't tell me! Though I can see why… It's a lightning based attack, and that would seriously hurt me if I even got grazed with it….'_

"Chidori!" Kakashi yelled out; ready to sprint off, but Minato-sensei put a hand out in front of him as a silent order to stay still.

"Even if there's a lot of enemies, this jutsu can do it in an instant. It's the same as your nickname… Besides, today, I'm the captain. It's a rule that everyone on a squad follow the captains instructions, isn't it sensei?!"

_ 'Damn, he pulled the 'captain' card,'_ I swore in my mind as I watched Sensei pull back his hand and as Kakashi slammed his into the tree root, making it nearly exploded.

Rin, who was the closest besides Minato-sensei, had to cover her face to protect herself from sharps shards of wood flying to her. I watched as Kakashi ran at a near-impossible speed, destruction his dust trail.

"You're an idiot Kakashi. You don't just run straight in. Baka," I said out loud for everyone to hear, shaking my head, but keeping my eyes on where he was, or at least tried to. It was slightly easier to track him that way because the sound his 'chidori' made was too loud and rebounded off everything, making it impossible for me.

_ Chink! Chink!_

_ 'What?'_ I searched where I heard the sound of metal hitting metal and saw a couple of kunia fall to the ground. I looked over to Sensei and saw that he was still in the pose from throwing those kunia, saving Kakashi, and then throwing one more, exactly pinpointing where the enemy is._'Damn, didn't see them in time. Gotta work on that...'_ I scolded myself as I watched the small puff of smoke, the tall-tale sign a shadow clone was defeated, dissipate.

"What th-," Obito, who I was next too, suddenly called out. Before I know what I was doing I whipped out my flute and snapped it apart, revealing the two blades that were hidden in the body, and slicing the clone that looked like it was emerging from the ground. When I got a close look on his face before he turned into smoke a thought ran through my mind._ 'I shall now call you Mr. Creepy, who loves the game hide-and-go-seek.'_

"Oi! Pink eyes! Don't let your guard down! This is a war," I reprimed him as I but the two halves of my flute back together, now kneeling on the ground instead of crouching, trying to politely ignore the tears I saw welling up from behind in goggles. This was war dammit! And we were, for lack of the better term, trained killers! '_You don't cry from mere shock like that. You react!_

"Just remember to stay aware of your surroundings next time, okay?" Rin, who was in the left of Obito, said softly, making a soft blush run across his cheeks as he hurried looked away from her. I chuckled under my breath as I watched this, even though a small pitiful in the pit of my stomach let itself known again, but just like all the other times, I pushed it down, not paying attention to it. Instead, I put my attention into trying to find where Kakashi had gotten to. I scrutinized the trees and giant mushrooms, not seeing a glimpse of the white haired boy.

"Kakashi!" Rin cried out, standing and turning around abruptly, Obito and myself as well. Minato and a now bleeding Kakashi were behind us. I rushed over to Kakashi and placed a hand over his wound, looking at him and our sensei in confusion.

"Wha-" I cut myself off, narrowing my eyes as I looked back to Kakashi, the_ thud_ of sensei pack being dropped was heard in the background. I didn't need to look to know that Sensei had gone to where the enemy was and had taken care of him. "That Iwa-shinobi… He had a short sword on his back… You were going too fast and didn't have time to evade, so sensei had to go and save you." My eyes narrowed even further when he didn't reply, just glared at the ground, one eye closed in pain. I sighed and pulled my now bloody hand away, standing up.

"Rin."

"Yes?"

"Take care of Kakashi's shoulder, please?"

"Of course, I'll start right now," Rin said as she moved to the spot I was, her hands over his wounds as the glowed a soothing green. I grabbed a scrap cloth from my bag and wiped the blood from my hands as I noticed that Minato-sensei was now back.

"Kakashi's wound is pretty bad. For now we'll retreat back to the camp." He said as he calmly walked over to the our of us.

"I'm fine!" Kakashi defeated, but the small wince that he tried to cover counteracted it.

_ 'No you're not, you dumb dog,'_ I thought, angry at him for being so careless, and in turn, making me worry.

"What do you mean 'fine'?!" Obito yelled out, "you selfishly went your own way against sensei's orders and did something crazy!"

"I don't want to say anything to you. To the 'elite Uchiha', a coward and a crybaby!" Kakashi retorted as Rin worked on his wound, still keeping his bored-like tone.

"That… There was something in my eye and the tears were to get it out!"

"Do you know 'Shinobi rule 25'? The rule that says 'A shinobi must never show his emotions'!"

"Hey… You two should stop this," Rin pleaded from still besides Kakashi, finished healing him. I sent a pleading look to sensei, knowing that if there was hope to stop them, it was him.

"Take it easy you two…" He said sternly to them, effectively stopping them. "Kakashi. Of course the rules and regulations are important, but, that's not all there is to it. I've told you before. There are also time where you have to cope with the situation."

"Hah! Look!" Obito gloated as Kakashi looked back down at the ground.

"Obito! As for you! You were wearing your goggles, so you couldn't have had something in your eye. If you don't control your mouth, then your mind will become just as weak," He chastised Obito as well, stopping his gloating mood. "And one more thing… Kakashi. That jutsu you used. You shouldn't use it again. A thrust all concentrated in one point. Of course, you have the destructive power and speed, but, because the speed of your movements are so fast, you can't see your opponent's counter. Because of that, it's an incomplete jutsu."

"Before we separate… I'll say it again. The most important thing to a shinobi is teamwork!" All four of us looked down at the ground in shame, not wanting to meet our sensei's eyes as everyone got up and began to make our way back through the forest to our camp for the night.

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><p>"It's pretty much healed completely now. But if you over do it, the wounds will open up again," Rin told Kakashi as she tightly wrapped a medical bandage around his shoulder. I sat a little ways away, hair down, and rubbing my eyes, trying to stifle my yawns from a once again nearly sleepless night. Though I did smile slightly when I saw that he was wearing the necklace I had giving to him still.<p>

"Alright," He told her, slowly reaching for his shirt, which laid right beside me. I pushed my hair away and handed it to him.

"Her-," a yawn cut off what I was saying as I handed his shirt to him. He gave me a concerned look.

"Thanks," he took the shirt from me, and began to put it one, "didn't get much sleep last night?"

I shrugged and began to pull my hair back up, sneaking a look over to Obito as Kakashi still had his shirt over his head. The talk between Minato-sensei and him about Kakashi's father surfaced in my mind before I looked back at my childhood friend. "I try, but you know me. I find staring at the moon and the stars more entertaining than finding out what my mind comes up with while I sleep.

"Okay! Lets head off!" Minato-sensei called out. All of us began to pack our bags as fast as we could.

"Yes sir!" We called back, swinging our packs onto our backs, walking in time with our Sensei, who was in the front, then Obito and Rin, and then lastly Kakashi and I taking up the back. After a few minutes of walking I reached back into my back and pulled out a small little green pill. I winced when I held it in my palm, but I placed it into my mouth and swallow nevertheless. I shook my head a little and stuck out my tongue after.

"God, those things have to be the worst tasting pills in the entire world." I complained under my breath as we walked.

"But yet, they are the only thing that will keep you wake through the day," Kakashi said back. I swatted him in the back of the head, just knowing that his mask was hiding a knowing smirk.

"Shut it know that even if I was half dead from fatigue I could still beat your ass in ten minutes."

"Riiight. The how come I'm the only jounin out of the two of us?" I tried to swat him again, but this time he ducked. I secretly tried to hit him a few more times, making sure not to alert the people in front of us though.

"Just. Stay. The. Fuck. Still. You. Fucking. Dog!" With each word I tried swatting him, only to him dodge again and again. I tried one more time, but this time he grabbed my hand and flicked my forehead. I jerked and pulled my hand back, glaring at him.

"You are sooo asking for it," I angrily whispered at him, slowly pulling out a water skin that hung off my backpack.

"Harmony. Hands away from the water supplies," My hands froze where they were, mere centimeters away from it before I quickly pulled my hands behind my back, looking like a child who just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Ahaha. Can't keep away from the water, can you?" Rin laughed as she walked back, a smile on her face.

I pointed over to Kakashi, "it's not my fault! He was asking for it!"

"I'm pretty sure you're not suppose to attack your captain, Harmony," I glared at him as he said that with a disappointing sigh.

"Shut it you!" This time I turned my head away from him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Enough you guys," Minato-sensei said, walking towards us. He was trying to look stern, but I could see tha he was holding back a smile. "From here, we split unit two groups. Everyone, do you best. It was only by chance that the enemy was scouting alone. From now one, it'll be team battles. Be careful."

"Let's go… Captain," Obito spoke up. Now that I think about it, he had been unusually quiet all morning. I lowered my arms and looked at him, a hint of a smile on my lips. Looks like the talk Sensei and him had had done some good.

"Right… Let's go!" Sensei said as he raised his right arm.

"Okay!" The four of us called out, all now standing in a line, and not trying to hit the others.

"Scatter!" That was the final word he said to us before we took off running through the now giant bamboo forest.

* * *

><p><em> 'Something seems off… It's too quiet here,'<em> I thought to myself as we walked across a small slow current river. I keep looking over my shoulders, making sure I didn't miss anything because I was the last person in the formation, so my main job was to protect our backs and have a joint effort in protecting Rin, the only person in our group who know medical ninjutsu, who was walking in front of me and behind Obito. Kakashi had the front, making sure to keep his eyes, and nose, open. I only say nose because I swear he could smell out an enemy a mile sooner than I could pinpoint their locations by the noise they make.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw Kakashi raise his one hand, signally us to stop. _'And speak of the devil. Wonder how many he sniffed out?'_ I looked behind me again, slowly pulling out a couple of shuriken, before a strange noise caught my attention._ 'Almost like something… Falling… And a lot of somethings… SHIT!'_ I quickly jerked my head up, seeing a myriad amount of sharpened broken bamboo pieces rapidly falling towards us like rain. I grabbed Rin and keep her close as Obito hastily formed some hand signs and released a giant fire ball, burning all the pieces.

"Rin, stay behind me, got it?" I asked as I shoved the other girl further behind me, holding all my shurikens in one hand as I watched as Kakashi took on the one that had tried to ambush us. _'Wait… One? Shouldn't they be… in a squad?'_ I thought to myself as I lowered my hand, flinching when I heard something crack behind Rin and I. That and the sound of Rin's scream were the last things I heard before pain erupted on the back of my head, efficiently making my world go black.

* * *

><p>"Uuuh…" I groaned as I slowly woke up, head throbbing. I began to move my hands blindly to hold my head, only to find out that something was restricting both of my hands behind my back.<em> 'Right… We got ambushed and I was careless… Where's Rin?!'<em> Pain, and currently inability to really move right now ignored, I scanned my surroundings, looking for my fellow female teammate, We were in what looked to be a type of cave, a deep one too, seeing how little amount of light was filtering through. A little ways away from where I currently was leaning against the wall was two men, Iwa-shinobis, one of them was the one that I watched fight against Kakashi, and Rin, who was also tried up. I saw the two walk, but I couldn't hear what they were talking, so I could only watched as one help up a hand sign and seemed to disappear.

_ 'So that's how he got behind us…'_ I concluded as my head as I watched the other put Rin into a genjutsu, most likely trying to pry information out of her. And if they don't get what they want out of her, then they will try and get it out of me. To bad I would rather die than give up anything about my village, even the best days to go to Ichiraku Ramen for some half priced miso ramen.

"Hey y-" I suddenly cried out in pain, cutting off the taunt I was going to say. The throbbing in the back of my head had turned into a full on stabbing pain that I could no longer ignore. But that wasn't the only thing. For some reason I could hear someone playing the flute, and as the pain in my head grew more intensive, so did the music. Together they blocked off almost everything. I closed one of my eyes as I bit the inside of my lips, trying to gain back control of my body.

_ 'Must… Be some type.. Of genjutsu...'_ As I thought this I noticed that I had lost feeling in both of my legs and I was slowly sliding towards the ground. _'Is he even… Able to cast… Such a-aaahhhh!'_ All I wanted to do was gasp my hands over my head, maybe see if I could hold it together, because it was feeling like it was splitting right down the middle.

_ 'Just make it stop.'_ I whimpered as I slowly hit the ground, now laying down. But I couldn't really tell, because by now I had lost the feeling half way up my chest. I could feel the sweat running down my face and my breath was coming out in short pants.

"Da-damnmit…" I whimpered under my breath as I tried to remember how to breath correctly and open my eyes. What I saw though my pain induced eyes confused me. Light was streaming in from one side of the cave, light that wasn't there before, and there was more people present in the cave. the blood drained from my face. _'I-iwa shin..obi- wait… No. The one… is fighting the … Others?'_ I forced both of my eyes to stay open as I tried to understand what was going on. It was beginning to scare me, not knowing what was going on. I closed my eyes again, swearing in my head as small whimpers exited my lips. I could only feel to the bottom of my neck now, and the melody that was coming from a flute somewhere increased its volume tenfold, making it even more unbearable.

_'Just make it stop…. Please...'_ Was the only thing I could think as I let out a blood curdling screaming, opening my eyes to watch as the two new figures were running towards Rin and I.

* * *

><p><strong>Kusagakure* - Hidden Grass Village<strong>

**Iwa-Shinobis* - Hidden Rock ninjas**


	4. Chapter 3

_**I don't own Naruto.**_

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><p><em> This is strange. I feel like I know where I am right now, but everything is wrong. It's the same forest that I traveled through all the time, east of Konoha, but there are less trees and more small roads that I don't know where they leave. It's also weird because I should be no where near the village, seeing as the team and I were heading for the north-east border. I can't remember much of what happened, the last thing was telling Rin to stay behind me after we got ambushed by Iwa-Shinobis. Did Kakashi, Obito, and Rin beat them? Where are they, I can't even sense any of their chakras? Was Minato-sensei's part of the mission successful? Why was it after I woke up on the side of the road that I was alone? Why did I wake up on the side of an unfamiliar road? And more importantly, what all happened after I blacked out? My head feels like it was put through a vice. Maybe after I walk for a while I'll hopefully remember something.<em>

I frowned when I looked down at what I had wrote, brushing my tangled hair out of my face.

_ So, because I have no clue what's going on, but I do know what I have to do. 1. Find my teammates (and beat the hell out of them for leaving me behind) 2. Find my flute, because my flute and all my shinobi tools were gone when I woke up. Even my headband! And last but not least 3. Get back to Konoha (and get a new headband)_

I nodded my head in conclusion before snapping my journal closed, placing it in the only pouch that I had left on me. After I made sure that the top was snapped closed I stood up from the branch I was sitting on, dusting of the dirt that had literally covered my clothes. My dark purple crop jacket with a longer left sleeve and my dark blue half skirt that covered nearly all of my left leg and went up to my mid-thigh on my right leg were by far the worst, stained and a little tattered, but I knew a good tailor in the Village so I wasn't all that worried. My light blue tank top, the fishnets I wear underneath my jacket that and my black shorts that I wore under my skirt were better but still dusty.

The only part that weren't as dirty was the bottom of my left sleeve was wear my clan symbol was located, which is a crescent moon that had three lines running from the bottom left to the top right, connected by two stars. The top half of the moon was silver while the bottom half was gold. I didn't really know why that single part of my whole outfit wasn't dirty, but it wasn't taking precedence in my mind right now. I looked up and saw through the tree tops that it was early to mid morning.

_ 'Well, I guess I should better get walking'_, I thought to myself as I jumped off the tree branch and made my way onto the road, taking the direction I had seen an elderly couple take as they talked about the 'giant village' that they were heading too. It had been a few hours ago, so I didn't really expect to see them again. _'Idiot! You should have asked them what this 'village' was!'_ I scolded myself, trying to tame my tangled hair, before I gave up and tied it into a high ponytail as I slowly made my way on the road.

_ 'Well, seeing a random red haired girl stumble out of the forest, covered head to toe in dirt, asking about where they were going would have probably scared them off. I just hope I don't get lost before I find my team. I for one do not want to spend a day, or night in an unfamiliar territory while a war is going on, especially alone with no tools.'_

* * *

><p><em> 'And I am so officially lost...'<em> I had been walking on the small road for more hours than I could have kept track of, trying to stay going east encase I got lucky, but too many times the road forked off and went in two or three different directions. I had not seen a single soul while I was walking, human or animal, so when I was walking I would often snack on plants I found that I knew were edible, but they didn't fully satisfied me. For a while a small creak traveled along side the road, so I was able to stay hydrated, but I ended up taking a turn that the creak did not.

_ 'If any there was a wild strawberry patch,_' my mind tended to go off on it's own after a while. Most of the time I would have pulled out my flute to keep myself from keeping myself entertained, but I did keep myself from dying from boredom by singing some tunes that I knew, but some of the time, I just hummed.

What I did find weird was that there were no lingering kunai, shuriken, or any debris laying around, or hear the sounds of a fight in the distance. I hadn't seen such a calm landscape in months since the war had started, and most places like this with no small villages around and still close to a days travel to the borders would have been places that fights would have gone on between enemy shinobis.

"Okay, I must still be asleep and dreaming, because there is no way that everything is this peaceful! Maybe I'm half awake and the team is bringing me back to the village," I closed my eyes and slapped both of my cheeks. "Time to wake up Harmony. Wake up."

I slowly reopened my eyes and saw the same scenery I had saw before, and I was still the only one of the road as the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. I frowned and painfully pinched my arm. "Ow! Okay, not dreaming! Definitely not dreaming."

I looked around, trying to see if I could find any indications of a town, but as far as I could tell, the area I was walking though was no home to any civilization. I frowned and crossed my arms, looking back at the sunset colour splashed sky. I had been walking all day, a few breaks breaks with little nutrients and water, my strength feeling like it was being drained from my body, and my memories still too foggy to make anything of it. All I could now remember was the sound of a flute, a sad lonely tune.

_ 'Well, I guess there's no point on finding camp yet, even though it looks like I will be spending the night alone in a war zone, no matter how peaceful it looks. Who's going to get no sleep tonight? Oh right, I don't get much sleep anyways. Might as well keep on walking till I pass out. Maybe then someone will find me and maybe help… Or just kidnap and sell me or just kill me on the spot,'_ so that's what I did, just kept on walking east for a few more hours until it was getting too dark to see and my feet dragging across the ground, fighting to keep my eyes open. I had taking up talking to myself instead of humming, just to fill up the deathly silence that surrounded me. Though it didn't help with my paranoia

"God dammit. Just where in the hell am I? And where the hell is everyone? You know what? I'm still not fully convinced that this isn't a dream. Well, maybe if I pass out right now, I can go back to where I really am and wake up from this stupid nightmare. At least for once it's not a nightmare filled with gore and blood. Oh god, please don't tell me I just jinx that!" I frantically looked back and forth, paranoia flaring until I got a grip and realized how stupid I was being.

"Geez, stop freaking out Harmony. There's nothing here but trees, trees… And more trees. Oh well, I guess I just… Have to…-" my mind went black as my body went limp, making me fall over, unconscious in the middle of the road. Right as I was saying 'I guess I have to just keep walking.' Ironic, isn't it?

* * *

><p>When you've passed out from exhaustion and paranoia, you would expect to have someone see you and ask if you were alright and maybe bring you to a nearby hospital. That or see you passed out, kidnap you, sell you, or kill you right then and there. But nope, none of that was my case. I woke up, covered in even more dirt, in the middle of a flipping road surrounded by TREES! I was in the same spot I had passed out a few hours before, and no one even found me!<p>

_ 'Stupid "great village". If you were so great and so nearby then maybe one of your 'great' shinobis would have been able to find a helpless person passed out in THE MIDDLE OF A ROAD!'_ I was very tempted to break out swearing like a sailor, but I took a deep breath and slowly counted back from ten.

"Calm down girl. Just calm down. You woke up in the same spot, which means no one walked passed you when you were out, or no enemies, shinobis, or ordinary people. All you have to do is take a few more deep breaths, concentrate, look at our surroundings and continue walking." Doing as I said I took a deep breath to center myself, then walked up to a random tree, then walked up it, continuing until I nearly reached the top. I walked onto a hanging branch and squatted down, balancing myself and buffering the wind.

_ 'Now look at our surroundings...'_ I looked directly in front of me, which I was guessing was south by the way the sun was rising, and then looked Westward, then to the North. All I could still see were trees. Sighing, I turned my attention to the East. I felt as if the blood left my body, leaving me cold. I could see see mostly only trees, but in the horizon was a humongous circular wall with a pair of green doors. The whole time I was walking I had guessed that I could have been heading to Konohagakure, but I had dismissed it numerous times, nearly hoping that I wasn't. I shouldn't have been anywhere near here. It shouldn't be possible!

_ 'But I'm so close to being home...'_ I shook my head and humped down, branch to branch until I landed slowly on the grass. I only really had one option, the same one I had chosen since I had woken up. Keep on walking. Judging by how small the walls seemed, it should take me at least nearly another whole day by walking, or around half a day if I ran through the trees. _'If only I was fully healed right now,'_ I cursed my aching joints as I began to walk. I was going to wait until my body hurt a little less and had a bit more rest before I pushed it too hard.

_ 'It shouldn't take too long fo-'_ the sound of my stomach grumbling, cutting off my thoughts. My face went from pale white from seeing the gates to cherry red.

"First I guess I should try and find something else to eat. If I'm this close to the village there should be at least some type of edible vegetation."

* * *

><p><em> 'I'm not sure if I could call this a glass half empty or half full.'<em> By the time the moon was sinking to the horizon, I had made it to the main road, and the gates where only maybe a mile away, clearing in sight, which was really good, but it didn't really seem to matter all that much. Small waves of pain had been coursing through my body for the passed few hours, making the walk longer than it had to be. I had never gotten the chance to run through the trees because of it.

_ 'Finally, almost there.'_ I thought tiredly, taking another shaky step after another, fighting to keep my eyes open and not to sway to much. _'I'm almost there. I can finally see everyone again, and give some fellow teammates a piece of my mind.'_

A few more shaky steps towards the village. Nearly halfway there. _'That's it, just keep your mind on other things then the pain, you can do this.'_ I kept this mantra up until I slowly closed the distance, silently celebrating when I finally crossed the gate line and in the village, even if it was only a few feet.

"Who are you? State your name and purpose of coming to the village!" someone demanded from the side. Foggily I remember that it should be from where the gate desk was, with the guards. It was strange. The person's voice didn't sounds like Tezuka's voice, one of the current guards. I tried to move my head to see who had replaced Tezuka, but just moving my head made me wince in pain, but I still fought against it and looked at him slightly.

"I said, state your name and purpose for coming to the village!" he demanded again. He was someone I hadn't ever seen before. He had spiky black hair, and a few bandages on his face, but that was all I could make out in the dark currently.

"...Harmony Kakureta Merodi… And I belong t-" and that was all I was able to say before I passed out … Again.

* * *

><p>You know what's a good feeling? Knowing that even though you just woke up in the hospital from passing out because of exhaustion, that you're safe, and that there's no once staring at you in a creepy way? Well, I'm glad you know that feeling, because I only got to experience it for a few seconds before I noticed that four masked ANBU were standing around in my hospital room, all looking at me.<p>

"Once you are fully recovered, you must report to the Hokage office," the ANBU to the right of me, with what looked like a lion mask, informed me in a monotone voice. I looked at the three of them, trying to figure out what was going on before nodding my head slowly to the one that spoke. After I had nodded then turned to each other and each formed a single hand sign, disappearing in a cloud of smoke from their teleportation jutsu.

"Well… That's not odd at all. I mean, it's not like it's everyday when a chunin like myself gets to meet four ANBU for no reason, whatsoever. Even if it was just to tell me to go and see the Hokage. A doctor, nurse, or even a fellow chunin could have told me that!" At the beginning I had said it in a sarcastic tone, but by the end I was a little on the worried side. I looked around the room and saw for once I was not hooked up to a dozen machines, meaning I wasn't seriously injured at all. "I wonder if I will be discharged soon…"

I never was a person who tended to stay in hospitals for very long… Most because I tend to escape through the window when I was in one. But because of how serious things seemed to be right now, I decided it would be best if I properly, with a doctor's permission.

_ 'If I don't, those four ANBU will probably come back and detain me. Don't know why though. Just what IS going on here? And why hasn't anyone visited me yet?'_ I mulled over that as I waited for the doctor, or nurse to come. Which they did, around a hour later. The nurse did a few routine test, and then went over my vitals. After going through everything the doctor cleared me and gave back my belongs, telling me I could leave once I was ready, before she and the nurse left the room.

_ 'Now time to go and see gramps. I wonder if he misses me yet. I've only been gone for a few days now. Me being gone, and returning alone wouldn't be a good enough reason to send four ANBU to my room.'_ stretching my arms over my head after cover my head after getting changed, I couldn't help but smile softly at the thought of see the Hokage again, even if something was going on. He was like family to me, a grandpa figure, after my family was killed. I tried to go and visit him everyday, and if I missed a day I would stay even longer the next to make up for it. I would also spend my days either at my sensei's house, who became like a father for me, or at my teammates houses.

_ 'I better get going. As much as I respect them, I really don't want them to come and visit again,'_ I walked over to the window and opened, jumping onto the ledge, and then leaping off, landing on dusty gravel. After looking back at the hospital, I noticed something was off. _'Was the hospital this big?'_ I cocked my head to the side in thought, before shrugging and making my way to the Hokage's office.

* * *

><p>"Just why is there always so many stairs?!" I demanded, just like I always did as I walked up the spiraling flights inside the building. But really, it was just a way to distract myself. On the way to the office I noticed that so many things in the village looked different. There was even an extra face on the Hokage Mountain that looked a lot like Minato-senei. I even had to ask an old lady how to get to the office, because there was so many new buildings around that it severely confused me. People seemed happy and unafraid, and when I tried to talk to some people about what was going on, they all told me that there's been peace for the last decade!<p>

_ 'Just what is going on here? It's like I time traveled or something!'_ I scoffed at the idea of time travel as I arrived at the door to the Hokage's over, about to knock on it when an elder voice cut me off.

"Enter."

_ 'Did gramps always sound that old? Or is it muffed by the door?'_ I wondered as I moved my hand to the door knob, twisted it, and then opened it, stepping inside. The moment I saw him sitting behind his desk, my question had been answered, but only to have another questioned asked.

_ 'He looked like he has aged at least another twenty years! How is that possible? The last time I had saw him was before I went to go and meet up with everyone at the gates less than a week ago!'_

"How…" the question that was dying to be asked died on my lips. This was simply wasn't happening!

"Harmony… Is that really you?" gramps asked. I couldn't help but continue to stare at his white hair and new wrinkles. Even though my mind was in shambles since I had woken up I easily replied to him.

"I'm pretty sure I'm still me. Still weird red hair and abnormal amber eyes. Though I don't know why so many things have changed… I was here only five days ago," I dropped my stare at him and took to looking around the office, which hadn't seem to change all that much, like everything else in the village. "Oh, and have you seen any of the members of my squad? I'm starting to think that I'm seriously losing at a game of hide-and-go-seek, one that I don't remember signing up for. Especially since there's a war still going on." When I looked back at the some how aged Hokage I found that he was now looking down at his desk.

"No. I'm sorry. I haven't seen you full squad. I haven't in a very long time," The way that he said that made an unpleasant feeling run down my spine. I took some of her current confusion and turned it into anger. This was beginning to really scare me!

"What do you mean 'full'?! And for a very long time?! We just left for a mission! One that you assigned us!" I walked over closer to him and slammed both of my palms onto his desk. "Just what in the hell is going on here Gramps?!"

"Harmony. You've…. You've been missing and presumed dead for over thirteen years now. The war had long passed."


	5. Chapter 4

_**I don't own Naruto.**_

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><p>"W-What?!" that's all I could managed to say after staring at him for around a minute in shock. I blinked a few times before I held my head in my hands, shaking it back and forth. "No! That's not possible! None of this is possible! It couldn't have been thirteen years! I don't believe you!" I looked up, glaring.<p>

"This is just some sick trick isn't it?! Where's my squad?! They put you up to this, to get back at me for some reason! Didn't they?! That's why I woke up on the side of the road!" I abruptly turned around, making my way for the door.

"Wait! Harmony, I know you don't want to believe it, but it's true. And you know you're team wouldn't do something like this to you as a joke or prank," Gramps called, making me stop.

"Then where are they?" I asked in a small voice. "Why haven't I seen them yet?"

"That day, on your last mission… Only three of the five of you came back from it alive…" I could hear the sorrow in his voice, but I didn't want to face the truth, adamant to deny it.

"That's a lie! The had to have made it out alive!" I shut my eyes, trying to remember what had happened. When I had been walking it had slowly came back to me. I remember foggily seeing the Iwa-shinobis fighting against someone, and then seeing two figures run towards Rin and I, before it all went blank.

"Kakashi and Obito… They were they when Rin and I had been captured… They had defeated the two! There was no one else, they had to have made it out alive!"

"The man that they were fighting made the cave he was stationed in collapse. Kakashi was injured and nearly didn't make it out, had it not been for Obito. He saved Rin and Kakashi, but it was a steep price." I covered my mouth, trying to hold back the tears that I could feel were beginning to gather. "Kakashi told me that Obito's last words were for him to save Rin because they were getting ambushed, and that Kakashi didn't have to worry, he was going to stay by your side so you wouldn't be lonely, as a teammate should."

"But the rest- everyone else is okay now… Right?!" I couldn't help but ask, tears streaming down my face. I didn't know how I was still standing after I heard of Obito's death, but I fell to the ground when Gramps still didn't look at me. "No. NO! You told me everyone else made it back!"

"They did. But a year later Rin and Kakashi went on a mission in the Hidden Mist, they got ambushed as well, and Rin was killed in the battle. A little while later Minato was made the fourth Hokage, but during Kushina's labour the Kyuubi was freed. He saved the village, but both he and Kushina were killed, along with many others."

"They… They're all dead…" I whispered, kneeling on the ground. I looked up at Gramps. "Wait. What about Kakashi? And their child?! What happened to Minato-sensei's and Kushina's child?!"

"Kakashi is fine. After the Kyuubi's attack he was promoted to ANBU captain, but after a while he decided it wasn't right or him, so now he is a jounin." A tiny bit of relief washed through me.

_ 'Fang's okay.'_

"And their child?

"He's name is Naruto Uzumaki, eleven years old. They sacrificed themselves to save him, but unfortunately, he is the new jinchūriki, even if he does not know of it himself. He was never told who his parents are, or what happened that night."

"So, he's all alone, but doesn't know why." I couldn't help but glare at that, still on the ground. Gramps nodded.

"Unfortunately. But he has his parents strength, and a bit of their personalities as well." I closed my eyes and steadied myself, slowly standing up, wiping the tears on my face.

"Is there anyway I could watch over him? I know things have changed, and I'm not sure- no, I _know_ I'm not ready to take on all of the tasks and weight I bared before, but I can't have him being all alone anymore. He is Minato-sensei's and Kushina's blood, and therefor, family to me." I looked up, my will resolved. I had no choice but believe in the fact that something happened to me and I was now in a different time, and it would take a while to get used to, but I couldn't, wouldn't, let their son suffer the way he might be.

_ 'I will honour all of your sacrifices Obito, Rin, Sensei. I will make you proud.'_

"Well, if that is how you feel, you could go back to the academy and join his class. The genin test will be happening in a two weeks or so. I know you don't have very fond memories from when you were there, but it will give you time to adjust and look over Naruto " I could see pride in his eyes as he told me thing. I placed my arms to my sides and bowed.

"Thank you very much for your consideration, Hokage-sama. When shall I start?"

"I shall send a message to Iruka Umino, telling him he will have a transfer student joining him tomorrow," I stood up and raised an eyebrow.

"Iruka? The one I used to babysit as a kid? He's a sensei now? Wow, he should be twenty-one, twenty-two now."

"Yes he is, and I'm sure he will be happy to see you again. I know for a fact he was one of the people that got hit the hardest by the news of your 'death'. But then again, many were."

"What should we do about…" I hesitated for a second, before continuing, "About me being back?"

Gramps stood from his desk and walked up beside me. "Right now I think it would be wise if we only told those who question it. Telling the whole village might alert previous enemy's, and once they get word they would want to come and see if it is true."

"There's also the fact that many won't believe me if they didn't originally know me. Time travel shouldn't be possible, especially if the person didn't activate it themselves," I shook my head. "Something happened that day, and I don't know what, but I will find out."

"I'm surprised to hear that you are taking so well to this Harmony. I have to say that I am struggling with it myself. But it brings me great joy to know that you are okay."

"I'm not… I'm just taking it in stride until I have everything figured out. Then I'll try and deal with it." he placed a hand on my shoulder, a sad smile accompanying it.

"At least you are willing to try… I know that this is late by a couple of year, but happy thirteenth birthday Harmony." I nodded and returned his smile, before wrapping my arms around him.

"Thanks Gramps."

* * *

><p>After spending the rest of the day talking with Gramps, I knew the moment I shut the Hokage's office doors behind me I knew that I was going to have an emotional night. It was a lot, nearly too much to all take in.<p>

_ 'May twenty-fifth… Two days ago, for me, my teammates were alive.'_ I shook my head as I began to make my way down the stairs I had climbed before. _'You have to stop thinking that way. It was thirteen years and two days ago.'_ Images of Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, Kushina, and Kakashi ran through my mind as I left the building and let my feet wander.

_ 'I wonder how they would all look now. Wonder if Obito would have won over Rin, got his sharingan, and showed his clan that he was just as good, if not better than the other. I wonder if Rin would have been made a combat medic-nin like she dreamed of. I wonder if Kakashi would have become less cold, like he was when we were kids. I wonder what Minato-sensei would have been like as Hokage. I wonder...'_ Those two words kept circulating around and around in my head, always having something hanging off them. As I was thinking I would casually look around the village, see how much it had really changed, and then noticed that I left like a _foreigner_ in my own home. It made my skin crawl as I walked, the ground slowly turning from gravel and dust to grass.

_ 'I wonder… Would you all still have managed to get your names written on this stone, even if nothing had happened and I had stayed with you all?'_ I placed a hand on the black stone with names of the deceased engraved on it. The sun was setting, letting up little light, but I could still see all of their names, written in different areas. My family, my team, and people I had looked up too when I was little. The devastating feeling I got when I was listening to Gramps hit me again like a sledgehammer, only this time it was worse, accompanied by the feeling of loneliness. I feel to the ground, cry once again, one of my hands placed above my heart as it began to rip in two, while the other went to the pouch I normally kept my flute in, only to remember that it had been stolen from me.

_ 'And now I will never get it back,'_ the empty feeling creased inside me, making me cry even harder. The flute had been a gift from my mother, her most prized possessions. She told me that she played it everyday as a child, and just like tradition in our clan, the mother would give the flute to her daughter when she reached the age of three. And I had it taken from me when I was weak.

"I'm so sorry everyone. I am so sorry. I should have tried something, anything, to prevent this. I miss you all so much already, and I know that I'm not worth the tears you may have shed for me. I feel like I don't know how I will live now. Very thing is just confusing now," I whispered as I tried to get a hold of the tears spilling from my eyes, but I forced a small smile on my face. "But I know you would all say there is no reason for me not feeling as if I don't belong, and I just have to try my best. I wished none of you had to go, but I promise, I will live on so I don't disappoint you anymore."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and moved so that I was laying on my back, looking up at the stars that were beginning to show in the night sky. I felt drained, and I couldn't fight my eyes from dropping close.

"I promise to make you proud, make things right, and figure out what happened that day." I whispered in my mind before I gave into my body wanting to sleep, too exhausted to even dream.

* * *

><p>The next morning I felt as if someone had glued my eyelids together, took a saw to my head, and laid five tonnes of rock on my body to weight me down. I had been wrong about being too exhausted to dream, of anything, the exhausted added to the nightmare I had, along with everything that Gramps had told me the day before. I had dreamt of Obito because crushed by giant boulders, Rin getting stabbed through the chest, as well as Minato-sensei and Kushina, but the two of them had been stabbed by a giant claw. All were filled with their share of blood and cries.<p>

I slowly shook my head to rid of the lingering images as I propped myself up off the ground.

_ 'What a wonderful dream… Not.'_ I thought to myself, rubbing my eyes with my other hand. I stopped when I thought I heard someone approaching me. I tried to opened my eyes and get a good look, but everything was too fuzzy. All I could make out was someone who wasn't very tall, so maybe a child, black spiked hair and possible dark blues clothes.

"Obito?" I groggily questioned, before scowling myself. "No, it's just my mind playing tricks on me from my dreams. Obito, just like the rest, are gone." I laid back down on the ground, but kept my head turned to whoever showed up.

_ 'And who is now leaving.'_ I frowned, and rubbed my eyes again.

"Okay, be rude like that. If you don't want to tell me your name to help me with this confusion, that's cool. But you can at least tell me what time it is?" annoyed, I asked, only to get ignored again. I huffed and closed my eyes when I saw whoever it was leave. As the sleep cleared from I eyes I could tell that he was not Obito, if his rudeness was enough of a give away, but he still looked as if he could be related to him.

I sat up and dusted off my clothes before running a hand through my once again mangled hair. 'Well, of course he could be related to Obito, even if he may be like half or a quarter Uchiha.. His clan was pretty large, and it's probably only gotten bigger." I stood up and dusted myself off.

"On a different note, I should really invest in some lasting food, a new pack, a good brush, some cleaners, an alarm, and new clothes. Thank god Gramps gave me some money before I left…" I trailed off for a few seconds before I reached for the pouched tied to my shorts, making sure if was still there. I sighed in relief when i felt it. For all I could have known someone could have saw me in the middle of the night and took it. Then I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was still fairly low

"Hmm, I would have to guess it's around six- six thirty… And if I remember, classes didn't start till nine in the morning, so I have around three hours. Now, I wonder if there are any places here where I can take a bath, wash my clothes at the same time and have some place to eat nearby."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe old Daburu Kurīnā* is still around! That place was ancient, even when I was a kid!" I laughed as I took another bite out of the sandwich I had bought. I felt much better now that I was no longer covered in dirt, wearing clean, patched up clothes, had the few things I needed, and some food. I was cutting it close though, the small clock I had gotten showed that it was 8:50, ten minutes before classes start.<p>

_ 'God, this brings back memories.. And I sound like a old lady.'_ I walked onto the grass underneath a large tree, a few metres from the academy, looking at the long swing that hung from a large branch. My first memory of this swing wasn't all that pleasant, but other that followed did bring a happy note. I had a good year here before Kakashi excelled and graduated before me, when we were only five years old. The next few years after that were quite lonely. A few of the boys who tried to bully me as a kid for my 'unique' looks tried to take advantage of the fact that my 'guard dog' as they said had left. I wasn't really myself again until I was but into a squad. My squad that had a few people from my class, Rin and Obito, who I never really got close too until we were a squad. And because we were the same age as Kakashi, but already a chunin, he was placed into our squad. I was still close with Kakashi, years after he became a genin and the chunin, but it was different, no, better, when we were on the same squad.

_ 'And now here I am again… I think this classifies as irony in it's truest form,'_ I chuckled under my breath. I stepped away from the tree swing finally and began to make my way to Hell's doors. _'Might as well welcome it with open arms.'_

I was about halfway to the doors before I saw a blur of yellow and orange in my peripheral vision and was knocked off my feet.

"Son of a bit-!" I cried out in pain, but catching myself so the curse I was able to yell wasn't complete. I was on my side, my left shoulder throbbing, but I lifted myself and looked at what crashed into me. That what turned out to be a who, and he was a boy with spiky blonde hair and wearing a orange and blue jumpsuit with a pair of green goggles on his forehead. He too was on the ground, but he was rubbing his head in pain.

_ 'Well, that explains why my shoulder hurts.'_ I slowly got up, and held my hand out to the boy who ran into me. After a few seconds the boy stopped rubbing his head and realized that he wasn't alone. And that I was still holding my hand out for him. I all but froze when he looked up at me with ocean blue eyes, and each cheek decorated with three lines, looking almost like whiskers.

"Ah… Sorry, my fault. I didn't see ya there, ya'know," he apologized cheeks now little coloured, taking my hand. I snapped out of my trance when he did, and pulled him up. I noticed that he had a few splatter of paint on his face and clothes.

_ 'I wonder if he has anything to do with a few of the buildings new paint jobs?'_ the image of a could of shops I walked passed by, with the words 'The Future Hokage was here, Believe it!' painted across them.

"No, I shouldn't have been taking so long. My name is Harmony," I shook the hand I was still holding, while giving a friendly smile. He mimicked my smile and returned the shake.

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hoka-"

"NARUTO!" that was all he said before his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. After a whispered curse and a fleeting goodbye, he let go of my hand and raced inside. A few seconds later another blur, this time green and brown, flew passed me, yelling and no doubt chasing Naruto into the academy.

_ 'Minato-sensei's and Kushina's son.'_ I small laugh left my lips. _'He had sensei's dashing looks, but he picked up his mother's way of talking. Plus, it seems he has his own personality mixed in. Dear lord, I pity Iruka,' _another laugh left me as I continued walking and entered the building, this time not getting trampled luckily.

Taking a quick look at the paper Gramps had given me before I left, I walked the hallway until I found the door with the matching numbers. I was going to knock, but I heard some sort of yelling from coming from inside.

_ 'Screw it, let's see how Scarface handles his kids,'_ I purposely opened the door and stepping inside, greeted by the sight of Naruto being tied up on the ground and Iruka standing over him, head ten times bigger, and yelling. I nearly burst out laughing, but I held it in.

"Ummm… Did I come in at a bad time? Or do I have the wrong class?" I asked, some how making my voice sound slightly disturbed when all I wanted to do was fall down, laughing. "I'm suppose to be in room 3-C, the graduating class, right?" I brushed my hair away from my face as Iruka stepped away from the still tied up Naruto… But I don't think he will stay that way for long by the way the ropes are slowly becoming looser, enough for him to wave at me.

_ 'And escape artist too huh?'_ I walked over and handed Iruka the note that was along with the paper Gramps gave me.

"Oh, you must be the new student that Hokage-sama informed me about. Yes, you are in the right class, I was just taking care of some trouble. I am Iruka Umino-sensei." He told me, reading the note I gave him, really just saying I was new transfer student. He looked at me a couple of times while reading it, and I saw flashes of recognition in his eyes, but I also say that he was denying it to himself. I smiled/smirked and bowed formally, my hair falling all over the place, as it was not tied back.

"It's nice to meet you Umino-sensei." I told him, playing the part of the new kid, I stood up and brushed my hair back into place, but let it still cover my left eye.

"It is nice to meet you too. Why don't you introduce yourself to your fellow classmates?" He asked, before taking a few steps back, dragging a nearly free Naruto along with him, making the question seem more like a demand. I turned and looked at my 'classmates'. A few looked like that where from clans that I knew, but the boy in the fair right back corner was the one that I recognized me the most. He was definitely a Uchiha, and possibly even the one I had seen this morning, either that or I had half-dreamed it all.

I took a breath before bowing slightly to the class, opening my mouth to start, before I snapped it close, realizing something. _"Crap! I don't know if I'm suppose to use my real name or make one up! Just make it up as you go Harmony, can't screw up this soon!'_

"My name is Harmony Kakureta, and I recently moved here from…. Near the Tanigakure*. I hope we get along well," I said nervously. I said after I stood up, deciding to use only part of my name encase they had studied deceased clans of the Leaf, as well as picking a nearby hidden village that was just forming around the time of the war. I looked back at Iruka, who looked a bit shocked.

_ 'Well, there's one more person that knows. Though it was to be expected, I didn't try very hard to cover it up...'_ After a few seconds of him silently gaped I cleared my throat.

"Umm… Sensei. where am I to sit now?" I asked him, faking confusion. He snapped out of it, but didn't notice Naruto run passed him.

"You can go and sit in any of the empty seats available, Kakureta-san," I turned and nodded my head, thankful that he was playing along, before making my way up to the steps. The only free seats where in the back. One in between Naruto and the Uchiha, and then an empty table on the other side.

I silently slipped into the middle seat of the empty table, setting my pack down by my feet, no longer wanting to attract any more attention. I had noticed all the looks unmistakable the girls were giving me when I looked over at the two boys debating if I should sit in between my squad member look-a-likes, and thought it would be better if I played things safe.

I also noticed all the curious, and not so curious the other half of the class was giving me as I sat down, but I simply propped my elbow on the table, placed my chin in my hand and ignored them, staring out at the window that was besides me. A few times Iruka would call me out to answer a question, or to perform a simple ninjutsu, as they were going over today. I made sure to not answer all the obvious questions right and messed up little on my transformation of him, making him shorter and having hi scar on his forehead instead. Other than that I stared out at the changed scenery, or doodled in my journal till the bell rang for their twenty minute break. Apparently next we were going to go over basic taijutsu and kunai/shuriken throwing.

_ 'Fuuuun,'_ I dragged out sarcastically in my mind, drawing a non-flattering picture of a boy in the class that had been giving me weird looks all class.

"Harmony, would it be okay if you stayed in, there is some things I want to go over with you so you don't fall behind," Iruka said as he stood by the blackboard. I was finishing up my picture, and the rest of the class had nearly all left.

"Sure I don't mind," closing my journal I stood up and walked to the front, and sat on his desk after the last student left. I stuck out my tongue at him, just like how I used too when he couldn't catch me in a game of tag that he begged me to play nearly every time I was at his house. Of course eventually I would let him though. I'm not that mean.

"So, hows life been treating you Scarface?" it felt good saying him by his child nickname, and it must have been good to hear it, because Iruka smiled for a second before he glared, walking up and grabbing me by the collar.

"You better tell me who you really are, why you are here, and how you know that name," my eyes widened by his aggression. I should have thought that some people, especially a chunin would be suspect me! Hell! _I_ would suspect _me!_

"Calm down Iruka!" I yelled back, grabbing his hands and throwing them off, dropping me to the ground in a crouch. I saw him begin to go for his tools.

"If you even think about trying to hurt any of these children I will personally kill-"

I sprang up and put some distance between us, hands up defensively."Whoa! No need to go that far! I'm not planning anything! I just want to make sure my sensei's child is no longer alone! He's practically family, and I would never, ever, harm him, or anyone either!" I paused to catch my breath before continuing. "Look, I don't know what happened, but I'm alive. Gramps told me that everyone thought I had died from the cave in, like Obito, but I never did! One minute I was in that cave, with a splitting headache, and the next minute I wake up on the side of the road, a day and a half's travel from the village!"

"I don't believe you! I went to Harmony's funeral! And I just wished her a happy birthday yesterday, standing over her grave!"

"But they never found a body! Did they?! My 'grave' is only a headstone." I retorted back, before tossing the journal I had with me. I wanted him to understand desperately. "Here, look at that. The last times I wrote in this was on the twenty second, during the mission, and the next was after I woke up! My handwriting and wording is the same! How could anyone but else me do that?! It's me Scarface! I'm alive, and standing in front of you right now."

His face was now considerably pale as he leafed through my journal, and after a few seconds he staggered over to his chair, still skimming the pages. I waited for another minute before speaking up again.

"It really is me Iruka," I whispered, walking over and closing my journal when he was finished, now just staring blankly. I put it back into its pouch and looked back up at him again.

"I spent the night at the KIA stone, and I saw your parents names. I'm so sorry for your loss. It must have been during the kyuubi's attack, right?" Iruka nodded his head and placed his hands over his face, rubbing it like he was suddenly tired.

"The village was never the same after that day," he told me, still covering his face.

"Do you hate him?" he shook his head, placing his hands on his lap and looking down at his desk.

"Naruto? No, I don't. I never could. He's only a child. A troublesome one I will admit, but it makes no difference to me."

Smiling, I gave him a side hug. "I knew you would never hate him. You were such a sweet kid, but you yourself weren't an angel all the time. Baka," he let out a small laugh.

"You should have seen how I acted a year or so after their death. I was the worst in the class, but the biggest clown. I could have made Naruto almost look like a saint. And don't you think that because I'm your sensei now you should treat me with respect?" I stuck my tongue out.

"Nope! To me you will always be a snot dripping little pest I got paid to look after! No matter how old you are!" this time he laughed with more heart in it.

"Still as childish as ever I see! And don't worry, to me you will always be my bossy older sister… Or would it be younger sister now?" giving him a playful glare, I crossed my arms with a sideways smile, and looked the other way, out the window where some kids were playing not far off.

"Shut it. If none of the unexplainable stuff had happened I would have turned twenty six already. But thanks, Scarface."

"No problem Harmony… But I do have one question."

"And that would be?" I turned and asked him.

"The Takigakure in the Land of Rivers? Really? And using half of your name?" he asked, a devilish smile on his lips. I punched him lightly in the arm.

"I'll say it again. Shut it! I forgot to go over it with Gramps of I was suppose to make stuff up, and with so many kids staring at me my mind went black! You're lucky I even managed to make _that_ much up on the spot!" laughing, Iruka stood up and rubbed the top of my head, making me scowl at him for few seconds before I too broke out laughing.

"It's good to have you back Harmony."

"It's good to be back. even if it takes time adjusting to everything and having to go through my own personal hell again."

* * *

><p><strong> Daburu Kurīnā - means double cleaners. Because you can clean your body and clothes at the same time… I have no shame or pride, I know.<strong>

** Tanigakure- Hidden Village of the Valley, located in the Land of Rivers, which is in between the Land of Wind and Fire.**


	6. Chapter 5

_**I don't own Naruto**  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>June 5th<em>

_Well, I guess you could say that my last nine days since I 'came back' to the Village have been eventful. Not the class though. I tend to just doze off or stare off into space during it, and I know that Iruka understands why, but he should really stop throwing pieces of chalk at me when I do. It's getting a little annoying having to pick chalk out of my hair everyday._

_And I found out it's going to be a lot harder to try and watch over Naruto. He is alone, like I thought he was, but what I didn't know was how much he was hated for what was in him. I've tried to play the 'naïve new girl' and befriend him, but the moment we get out of class he closes off, and the only time he doesn't is when he asks if I want to go and get some ramen, which I always have to turn him down because I don't want everyone in the village to see that I am back right now. Hence why I travel by the rooftops to get to 'class' everyday._

_Besides the two of them, Scareface and Naruto, I've come to dislike almost everyone else of my class. Well, besides the three boys who them to always get themselves in trouble with Naruto, like all sleeping during lectures, pulling off pranks, or ditching class. Oh and the guy with the huge collared jacket and round sunglasses. Can't really hate a guy who only keeps to himself as well as the shy Hyuuga girl. She doesn't say much, but when every I partner up with her she smiles softly and asked harmless questions. What I have noticed is that she goes extremely red whenever Naruto is around._

_Besides them I'm not really a fan of anyone else in the room. I don't understand what's wrong with the guys, had they not seen a girl with red hair and amber eyes before? … Okay, dumb question, but the stares are still not pleasant when you're trying to be as invisible as possible. The rest of the girls I guess you could alright but scary when agitated. After my first day a flock of them came up to me lead by a blonde and pinkette (who I've notice constantly fight with each other) and them told me to 'stay away from their Sasuke-kun' the boy that I thought was Obito that morning by the K.I.A. stone and IS an Uchiha, though his sulking and cold eyes gave away what half of the clan he is from._

_I've been talking with Gramps daily after school, catching up on everything I've missed and things that I need to know about, and slowly I'm getting used to the idea of being in this time. They seem to have a better protocol and training regime than before, plus there wasn't been a war since the last, tension yes, but no war. To stay hidden I've been staying that gramps own house, but only at night because the rest of the Sarutobi household stay there as well. Some nights I end up sleeping in a tree or at the K.I.A. stone if I was out too late training._

_But Gramps has been really amazing, letting me stay at his home. giving me money to buy my food, and after he saw my old torn out clan clothes. An identical set, which I have yet to wear because we both agreed to wasn't very smart to wear them yet. For now I'm just wearing a blue trop tank with a purple three-quarter shirt underneath that still showed my midriff, so I wear netting under it all to cover the rest and simple black pants. I laughed when grandpa showed them to me because they were still in my clans colours. And grandpa insisted that I wear my hair in a braid, though it's a little annoying seeing I'm so used to having my hair down, he said something about 'letting people see my face'... Which kinda concratdics what we are doing, but it doesn't look that bad._

_Oh, and what's with all these kids being around eleven years old?! I know I'm already two years older than all of them, but when I was originally at the academy most kids graduated at the age of nine! But apparently you have to be a protege to graduate that young… Or that it was just because the war was going on when I was a child and they needed more shinobis… Yeah, probably that. Oh, and as well, apparently this 'Sasuke' guy is a protege BUT he still hasn't graduated! I get a small laugh out of that. That and how many times Natuto goes off yelling at him, saying how uncool the Uchiha is, which I have to agree with him._

I looked down at what I had written for the day, and I couldn't help by small a little at the ending. The kids nowadays are so weak!

'_That and very arrogant,'_ I thought, resting my chin in my palm as Iruka droned on about something I already knew about. I winced slightly, not enough to notice, when my hand accidently put pressure on a sore spot near my mouth. _'Seems that if they can't put their money where their mouth is, they go crying to their chunin big brother.'_ I scoffed internally, sending a undisguised death glare to a certain boy who sits two rows in front of me, still making a huge fuss about his 'wound' and 'assassin' who gave it to him, but at the same time trying to look as cool as possible with all his friends, who have mutually agreed on pretending I don't exist. No one asked why either.

Gah, could he make it any further than the truth? And it's a simple cut on his cheek!_ 'But at least he hasn't told anyone about what I said...'_

-Three days ago-

"Gees, could class go by any slower?" I asked with a sigh after Iruka dismissed the kids after a lesson on the nature of chakra. I love Scarface and all, but if I had to sit through another lesson like that I would end up dropping like a rock instead of just occasionally dozing off like I did today. Luckily next was some close-combat tai-jutsu training, so at least I found have to fight to keep my eyes open, even though I might as well. Hell, that would be better than having to hold back as much as I have too!

_'I wonder what Naruto has for lunch today… Probably ramen,'_ laughing slightly, I began to pack my things into my shoulder bag and grabbed the food I had bought for lunch. When I caught Naruto's eye I gave him a smile and a small wave, which he returned before beginning to stuff his things into his bag, a job that will take at least five minutes before he will give up and bag a good kick.

Laughing again, I return to pack my things in a semi-caring fashion, intending to finish up quickly and then going over to help Naruto, and more so save his bag from its daily abuse. I have nearly done when I was interrupted by someone clearing their throat beside me, clearly wanting my attention for some reason, so I let my eyes roam over whoever it was before frowning, and going back to packing my things.

"What do you want Kimisewa?" annoyance seeped in my voice. I may have only been here for six days, but his jerk had found a way onto my 'top ten assholes' list.

"Ah, ah, ah Kakureta-chen. How many times have I asked for you to call me Ryoke-kun? It's what all my friends call me." and that is how he managed to get on my list so fast, adding_ '-chan'_ to the end of my name, and expecting me to not only call him by his first name, but with _'-kun'_ tacked on. No thanks.

"And how many times do I have to tell you not to talk so informally with me and that we are not friends." I replied back, making my question really a statement. I narrowed my eyes as Ryoke clicked his tongue and grabbed on of my few remaining notebooks off my desk., making me look at him to retrieve it. His whole look screamed 'annoying rich kid with his common black hair gelled up in the front, matching eyes always looking down his nose, a permanent smug smile and clothes that are probably never even worn twice!

_'Remind me why this kid is trying to be a shinobi again?'_

"Oh come one Kakureta-chan, I'm sure if you give me a chance the two of us can become great _friends_," when he tried to make his voice go lower at the end I couldn't help but roll my eyes and yanked my notebook from his hands.

"Thanks, but no thanks Kimisewa. Something tells me that a friendship between us just won't work. Now if you excuse me," after stuffing the notebook into my bag I tried to shove past to leave, but he, and two of his minions stepped in the way. Seeing that I was trying to be corralled I looked around discreetly, seeing that the only people left in the class was Ryoke, minion #1 and #2, Naruto, and myself. Naruto had just finished packing and saw that I was surrounded at my desk, looking worried and a bit confused.

When I was trying to figure out why Naruto was looking confused, Mr. Prissy noticed and looked back at Naruto as well, scoffing. "Ah, you were planning on hanging out with the dead last bumbling idiot again," sitting back casually on the corner of my desk, Ryoke looked back at me as his minion chuckled. "I hear that he has no parents and doesn't even have two ryo to rub together, always running to the Hokage for money, ha!" Ryoke was now looking at his nails as he laughed, and my fingers were starting to itch, wanted so bad to shut his trap. I knew that Naruto could hear every word that this trash was saying.

_'Dammit! If only I didn't have to act so weak! I could have punched his lights out no sweat!'_ instead I took a deep breath and uncurled my fingers, which I didn't know I had clenched.

"Hey Harmony, ya coming?" Naruto suddenly asked. In his voice I could already hear the betrayal he felt, but I still waved him off, knowing that Ryoke couldn't possible be done, and I didn't want Naruto to be around any longer to hear it.

"Yeah Naruto. I'll be there in a few minutes. You go on ahead." Naruto looked at me and then at Ryoke before sighing.

"Yeah, I get it. See ya," he gave me a wide smile, one that I knew was fake before exiting the room, leaving me alone with the two idiots and their leader.

_'Sorry Naruto.'_ I apologize in my mind as he last, but snapped my attention back to Ryoke, who was looking offley smug.

"Good riddance is what I say. Hes bad luck, and a loser," he scoffed yet again, and I glared.

"Well, I think hes very sweet, misjudged, and a very unique person. Is he loud and hyperactive, yes, but very unique. He also tries to make everyone smile and does he's best, unlike someone I know."

Ryoke pulled a face when i said that about Naruto. "You actually think he's cool?! Well, here's something about your _friend_ that you didn't know about," he jumped off my desk, leaning towards me." My father says that he's cursed, a monster, a demon. And that when he was little his curse drove his parents and anyone who was close to him to all kill themselves. Why else do you think he's alone? Honestly, I don't know why he's been allowed to live as long as he has. I think our old coot of a Hokage should just get the ANBU and get rid of that pest."

Ryoke went on and on, and this time I didn't bother unclenching my fists, though I fought to keep my fists at my sides and keep my face as neutral as possible. Couldn't let him see my rage.

"Really, me holding my hand out to you is your only salvation. You never know when you'll end up dead because of Naruto," it seemed like Ryoke was finished, leaning on the back of my chair, but he tacked the final straw on. "Oh, and you can't tell anyone about what I told you. Apparently its all hush-hush, a village secret, even though everyone knows it already."

My covered left eye was now twitching, and I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach.

_'That… That lil' bastard! Screw being weak! He needs a good dose of fear so he what lines not to ever cross!'_ I screamed internally, but then started laughing maniacally when I thought of the perfect way to get his guard down AND wound his pride.

I looked down for a few seconds, letting the shadows of my bangs cover my face, looking as if I was taking all what Ryoke said in, before looking up and giving him my best fake smile, making sure to hide my shaking hands behind my back. If anything, the pose that had to strike to do so made the act all that more believable.

"Really? That's all true?" Ryoke nodded triumphantly, and I looked back to the ground, as if ashamed this time. "Oh… I didn't know. Well, no I guess I should have known something was up with him. No one could be that kind and caring and still have no friends, no matter how obnoxiously loud he is.

Ryoke smirked in agreement when I looked back up at him, and the I 'shyly' looked side-to-side, before leaning closer to him.

"Because you were so kind to warn me about Naruto, and told me some pretty secretive things, so I guess I should return the favour," one of Ryoke eyebrows rose, but he leed in closer, but motioned for his minions to back off when they began to lean in too. When he got close enough I whispered into his ear.

"You should really stop telling such trashy lies to someone who could kill you, especially when they already know the truth," after that I pushed him away with a bored look and picked up the bag I had left on my chair, ready to leave. "And I can hang out with whoever I want to. And Naruto? He's as harmless as a newborn compared to me."

I threw a flirty wink over my shoulder just to annoy him as I began to walk away, enjoying how red his face had gotten.

"See you in class Kimisewa," flicking my braid over my left shoulder, I turned my back to him, only to have my exit stopped by minion #1 placing his hand on my shoulder, and guessing by his grip, it was suppose to be painful.

"Just who in the hell do you think you are, huh? I hold my hand out to you, and that's how you repay me?! By threatening me?! You ungrateful bitch!" Ryoke exclaimed, and I couldn't help by smile sadistically.

_'Bingo.'_ I grabbed the hand on my right shoulder with my left hand, pulling minion #1 closer, then slammed my foot on one if his. After that I elbowed his nose with my right when he was bent forward, all while still holding on with my left, and then to finish him off I threw him over my shoulder onto the floor, knocking the wind out of of his lungs and leaving him dazed with a bloody nose.

Turning back around I had just enough time to duck under minion #2's punch, and then returned the favor by introducing my own fist to his chin. As minion #2 was moving to the side from the fource of my punch, I swiftly followed through with a roundhouse kick to se3nd him to where minion #1 was.

_'Too easy,'_ I thought to myself, looking at the two-man-dog-pile, but then noticed some motion out of the side of my eye. _'Oh no you don't. You the one who started all of this.'_

As I watched Ryoke try to leave by sticking to the walls, I opened one of my weapon pouches grabbed some kunias, and threw them at him. The first two stopped just in front of him, making him stop and look at me, and the third sliced right passed him, making a thin line on his cheek appear, bleeding slightly.

"Take this as a warning, a threat, or a declaration of war. Take it any way you want, just leave Naruto and me alone, got it?" I walked up to him and fist pulled out the kunia that had scratched him, holding it under his nose. I held it there until he glubbed and slowly nodded, not taking his eyes the point of the metal. I huffed and slowly put the kunia away, joined by the other two and the left, grabbing my bag and leaving the three there to sort themselves out themselves, not worrying if they were alright or not.

_'They should be. I only used low level hand-to-hand taijutsu on them, though it may have been a bit advance for them still. So it will still leave a few bruises… And a bit of blood. Nothing too major.'_ even so, a mixture of guilt and fear was beginning to settle itself into the pit of my gut, ruining the satisfaction I had felt briefly.

To push the horrid feelings away from my mind I began to look for Naruto, but didn't find him until I walked out the front doors, seeing in sitting on the tree swing, looking downcast. The feelings I had unsuccessfully pushed away made himself apparent again. _'Shit.'_

"Naruto!" I called out, getting his attention as I trotted up to him. He looked almost shocked that I was walking right up to him, and with a genuine smile on my face. I noticed it took him a second or two to return it, but when he did his smile was real.

"Yo! What took ya so long Harmony?" he asked, standing up and grabbing his cooked instant ramen cup off the ground and chopsticks. I waved it off and leaned against the tree, motioning that he didn't have to stand.

"It was nothing. Kimisewa and his friends just wanted to ask a few questions about something they didn't understand from sensei's lecture. Also, I had a clear up a few things and rumors that he told me. I don't know why he thought they where so true when they were so trashy. Oh, and I didn't mean to be gone for some long. Sorry."

Naruto shook his head and opened the cup, shoving noodles in his mouth. "It'sh nwo problewm." I laughed when he tried to speak with his mouth full, and decided to get my own lunch out of my bag, a BLT sandwich and apple.

We talked, joked, and ate for the rest of the lunch break, but as the bell rang, telling everyone that they had to get back to class, I didn't move from my spot on the tree. Something told me that going back in there where Ryoke was a bad idea and ruin every I had just risked.

"Ya comin'? We got taijutsu training next!" Naruto exclaimed when he noticed that I wasn't moving when he was already halfway to the door. I ran a hand down my braid, feeling all the bumps.

"Na, think I'm going to skip the rest of the day."

"Want me to skip too? I know some pretty awesome places." he adjusted his goggles with a prideful smile, already walking back towards me. I looked out of the side of my eyes, making it look like I was debating on what he said, before turning him down.

"Sorry, how about next time? If we both skip Senseri will probably blame you, and say that 'you're a bad influence on me' or something," internally I chucked.

_'Yeah right. Like Scarface would ever say that. Besides, I'm two years older than him!'_

"Oh, I get it! See ya tomorrow then!" Naruto replied with enthusiasm before taking off, looking over his shoulder as he ran. I laughed a waved at him before walking away from the academy, my own personal hell. it surprised me how close I could get to Naruto without really opening myself to him.

I walked around aimlessly on less populated roads in the village until I reached a grassy hill by a large field and the forest. Having nothing better to do I undid my braid, letting my hair free, and laid down on my back. As I got comfortable in the grass I watched the clouds drift above, humming whatever song came to mind and thinking.

I layed there for a few hours, mulling things over before my eyes grew heavy. it was just my luck that two shadows towered over me as I was beginning to drift off, and someone jap my ribs with their foot harshly.

"Hey. You the bitch that threatened and insulted my brother?" I opened my right eye to see a teenage version of Ryoke, and Ryoke himself, his smug smile back on his face. I sighed and closed my eye, knowing how this will turn out. I saw his brother's olive green vest and headband. A chunin. Not good for me, but better than having a clan elder standing before me.

"And what if I am?" I replied boredly, and got the reaction I was hoping against, but knew he would do.

"No one threatens a member if the kimisewa family and leaves alive, you fucking low-class freak!"

_'Ouch. Freak huh? Haven't heard that for a while.'_ I mused as Ryoke and his brother began to step on, kick, and punch me. The only reason I didn't loose my anger and retaliate, or at least defend myself was because if they were the two who were 'punishing' me that means that Ryoke hadn't told anyone else, and wouldn't likely tell anyone after this. So I took it all. A bit of a down side for me was that Ryoke's brother knew how to use chakra in his taijutsu, so when they were finally done and left I was quite bruised up. But not to the point where I needed professional medical attention.

When I got myself up I slowly limped my way back to Gramps house, snuck in like normal, and grabbed some medical cream that I knew would speed up the healing and some leftover food. After I had wrapped myself up to the point where I could easily pass as a mummy I went to my 'room' and went to sleep, waiting to be greeted by the horrors of my imagination.

* * *

><p>The next day I had gone to the academy still banagded up, but not as much as the night before, refusing to answer anyones questions, even Iruka when he pulled me aside during break. Luckily, after that Ryoke and his minions didn't bother looking at me, which was a huge relief. By the end of the day no one bothered asking even more, even Gramps when I got home and told him that I had trained a bit too hard the night before.<p>

But Naruto was very different, and persistent, constantly asking what happened to me, but I kept on telling him 'it was nothing' and 'he has no reason to worry'. He didn't shut up until I had taken him top the dango shop after classes yesterday, but today I still caught him looking worried about me when he thought I wasn't looking.

_'Like right now,'_ I sighed and reminded my hand from my chin and decided to add one last thing to my entry today.

_Even if it means adding a few more bruises to my collection, protecting my family will always be worth it. Even if those bruises are caused by my own lies._


End file.
